Poet's Laureate

Poet: Howard Nemerov

Quick Biography

Howard Nemerov was a poet born in February 29, 1920, New York. He showed interest in the arts from a young age, studied at Harvard, earning a bachelor degree in 1941. He was a pilot of the U.S Army Air Force during WW II, and married in 1944. 

After the war, he taught English to WWII veterans at Hamilton College, where he developed his career as a professor. He earned the position of a Distinguished Poet in Residence in 1969 until his death in Washington University in St. Louis. As a poet, Howard Nemerov was known for his variety of subjects portrayed and his rather standard method of rhyme. 

That being said, here is the analysis of the individual poems:

Individual Poems

Writing

The cursive crawl, the squared-off characters 
these by themselves delight, even without 
a meaning, in a foreign language, in
Chinese, for instance, or when skaters curve 
all day across the lake, scoring their white 
records in ice. Being intelligible,
these winding ways with their audacities 
and delicate hesitations, they become 
miraculous, so intimately, out there
at the pen’s point or brush’s tip, do world 
and spirit wed. The small bones of the wrist 
balance against great skeletons of stars 
exactly; the blind bat surveys his way 
by echo alone. Still, the point of style 
is character. The universe induces
a different tremor in every hand, from the 
check-forger’s to that of the Emperor
Hui Tsung, who called his own calligraphy 
the ‘Slender Gold.’ A nervous man
writes nervously of a nervous world, and so on.
Miraculous. It is as though the world
were a great writing. Having said so much, 
let us allow there is more to the world 
than writing: continental faults are not 
bare convoluted fissures in the brain. 
Not only must the skaters soon go home; 
also the hard inscription of their skates
is scored across the open water, which long 
remembers nothing, neither wind nor wake.

This poem speaks of how beautiful, delightful, and wondrous writing is of doing despite seemingly just being words. It also speaks of how the way a man writes is characterised by who he is. Lastly, as much as writing is a great medium for man to express himself, Nemerov warns that there is more to the world than writing, and that some things have to be experienced.

A Spell Before Winter

After the red leaf and the gold have gone,

Brought down by the wind, then by hammering rain
Bruised and discolored, when October's flame
Goes blue to guttering in the cusp, this land
Sinks deeper into silence, darker into shade.
There is a knowledge in the look of things,
The old hills hunch before the north wind blows.
Now I can see certain simplicities
In the darkening rust and tarnish of the time,
And say over the certain simplicities,
The running water and the standing stone,
The yellow haze of the willow and the black
Smoke of the elm, the silver, silent light
Where suddenly, readying toward nightfall,
The sumac's candelabrum darkly flames.
And I speak to you now with the land's voice,
It is the cold, wild land that says to you
A knowledge glimmers in the sleep of things:
The old hills hunch before the north wind blows.

This somber poem portrays the death of autumn and its colors in the first stanza, and what it brings in return for what goes away. To be specific, the second stanza states that as the autumn leaves fall, and the world becomes darker, one could hear the voice of the land better with more clarity and focus.

KicksThe fishermen on Lake Michigan, sometimes,For kicks, they spit two hunks of bait on hooksAt either end of a single length of lineAnd toss that up among the scavenging gulls,
Who go for it so fast that often two of themMake the connection before it hits the water.Hooked and hung up like that, they do a danceThat lasts only so long. The fishermen
Do that for kicks, on Lake Michigan, sometimes.

Kicks is a light hearted poem with bits of humor and irony sprinkled into it. Basically, the fishermen of Lake Michigan attempting to amuse themselves by “fishing” seagulls, a notoriously dumb bird. To add further amusement, the birds do not attempt to let go of the bait, making it look as if the sea gull is dancing. 

Now, as the three poems are presented, here is what I think is the poet's calling card, which, frankly, was rather difficult to discover.

Calling Card

Notably, Howard Nemerov is the epitome of the prose poet. He is varied in the subjects he cover, from seemingly random observations of events to deep contemplations of the significance of a certain mode of thought. As a prose poet, Nemerov doesn’t seem predisposed to the pursuit of following specific rhymes, patterns, or structure. The tone also varies from poem to poem, from somber (A spell before Winter), to light hearted (Kicks). Therefore, if there was a Calling Card for this poet, it would be his versatility when it comes to the subjects Nemerov covers and his ability to change his tone to correspond to his topics.  

Citing

-"Howard Nemerov." Howard Nemerov- Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. <http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/222>. (Biography of Howard Nemerov)

-Nemerov, Howard. Writing by Howard Nemerov. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web.

-Nemerov, Howard. "Kicks." Kicks, a Poem by Howard Nemerov. N.p., n.d. Web.

-Nemerov, Howard. "A Spell Before Winter." A Spell Before Winter. Poemhunter, n.d. Web.